Feb. 8, 2014

As Rev. Dodi Rose, center, performs the wedding ceremony, Isajah Morales left, places a ring on her partner, Saralyn Morales, during a wedding ceremony at the Sheraton Waikiki, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013 in Honolulu. Hawaii became the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage Monday, and couples were able to apply for marriage licenses after midnight. After receiving their marriage license, several couples held a group wedding at the hotel. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) / AP

TURNING THE TIDE?

Most Kentuckians still support a state ban on gay marriage, but their numbers have declined significantly from a decade ago when an amendment to the state constitution banned civil unions and limited marriage to a man and a woman.

In the latest Bluegrass Poll — conducted by SurveyUSA for The Courier-Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader, WHAS-TV in Louisville and WKYT-TV in Lexington — 55 percent of the 1,082 registered voters polled said gays and lesbians should not be allowed to marry.

Thirty-five percent said they favored allowing gay marriage, while 10 percent said they were not sure.

The poll’s findings contrast with a 2004 Bluegrass Poll that showed an overwhelming majority — 72 percent — supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage that legislators were considering at the time. The ban was ratified by voters in November 2004.

The shift in attitude about gay marriage is also reflected in national surveys, including Gallup polls, that generally show younger, more liberal-leaning and less religious people are OK with gays having the right to marry.

This year’s Bluegrass Poll, conducted Jan. 30 through Feb. 3, found that respondents ages 18-49 were more likely to favor gay marriage than respondents 50 and older, and that 72 percent of Republicans were opposed, compared to 43 percent of Democrats. Among males, 60 percent opposed gay marriage while 31 percent favored it. Among female respondents, 39 percent were in favor and 51 percent opposed.

Around the state, respondents in the Louisville region — a 14-county area that runs to Breckinridge County in the west, Shelby in the east and Green County in the south — were most likely to favor gay marriage, with 46 percent of respondents in favor and 45 percent opposed.

But some of those surveyed didn’t fit so neatly into that narrative, including T.R. Cox, 57, of Marshall County.

“I don’t think things like that should be legislated, there are too many other problems out there,” said Cox, who described himself as a religious man who has gay relatives and rejects a state ban. “I am opposed to (gay marriage) morally, but I’m more opposed to the government being worried about it when there’s unemployment, Obamacare, the price of propane.”

He also quickly cautioned that while his viewpoint has evolved over the years, he makes an important distinction.

“Let’s not call it accepting,” he said of gays. “But I’m more tolerant of them, and there’s a difference.”

In contrast, James Gray, 59, of Mount Vernon in Rockcastle County, supports the current ban and is even more strongly opposes gays adopting children.“Gay marriage wasn’t meant to be,” he said. “And I don’t expect them to raise kids. Everybody do your own thing but don’t drag kids into it. It don’t work that way.”

He said he believes the Bible’s teaching are subject to interpretation, “But no, you don’t have a constitutional right to marry. To live together, that’s their prerogative.”

Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, said a same-sex marriage bill is not expected in this year’s General Assembly.

He said the issue has already been fought out in the Kentucky legislature and “the marriage battle will be won in the courts.”

According to a national Gallup poll, released in July, , 52 percent of Americans said they would vote “yes” on a national law legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states, while 43 percent opposed.

That represents a significant shift since 1996, when a Gallup question about whether gay marriages were legally “valid” yielded only 27 percent in support.

Gallup said of the findings: “This adds to the body of evidence in Gallup trends that public opinion on gay marriage has reached a tipping point whereby the majority now clearly supports it.”

In the Bluegrass Poll, respondents described themselves as 36 percent conservative, 42 percent moderate and 16 percent liberal. Slightly more than half 53% were age 50 and older and 91 percent were white. Democrats accounted for 51 percent, Republicans 37 percent. The poll has a plus/minus of three percentage points.

ABOUT THE POLL

THE BLUEGRASS POLL® is based on surveys conducted Jan. 30 to Feb. 3 with 1,082 Kentucky registered voters by SurveyUSA. The poll was conducted for The Courier-Journal, WHAS-TV, the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV in Lexington.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer, while the other 23 percent were shown a questionnaire on their smart phone, tablet or other electronic device.

The margin of error for the polled questions was plus or minus 3 percentage points. In theory, one can say with 97 percent certainty that the results would not vary by more than the stated margin of sampling error, in one direction or the other, had all respondents with telephones been interviewed with complete accuracy. Percentages based on subsamples are subject to a higher potential margin of error.

In addition to these sampling errors, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey can also influence the results.

Republishing or broadcasting the poll’s results without credit to The Courier-Journal, WHAS-TV, the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV is prohibited.

Reporter Tom O’Neill can be reached at (502) 582-4653 and on Twitter @CJ_toneill.